Your holiday marketing checklist starts now (Yes, really!)
If you hear the word "holiday" and think of crisp autumn air, pumpkin spice, or that faint scent of cinnamon… you’re already a bit behind.
In marketing, the holidays start now.
I know, the weather is still hot – it reached almost 30 degrees Celsius here the other day! But the truth is, while your customers are still enjoying the summer's end, you should be deep into planning Q4 campaigns. The fourth quarter is the most critical time of the year for many businesses, and you don’t want to leave revenue on the table.
Waiting until November to think about your Black Friday email, or until December to finalize your Christmas ad copy, means you might rush and make mistakes.
Here is your essential, early-bird holiday marketing checklist to ensure you capture maximum sales and attention this festive season.
(starting now)
1. Analyze last year's holiday campaigns
The best predictor of future success is past performance.
What products/services sold best? Identify your hero products or services. These will be your focus for early promotions.
What campaigns didn’t do well? Stop doing what didn’t work. For example, was that one social media contest a dud? Cut it.
What channels did best? Where did your highest ROI come from? Focus efforts on that channel (ie., email, Pinterest, paid search).
2. Create your Holiday Calendar
“The holidays” indicates a season of events, so map out key dates for your business:
Mid-October: "Early Bird" or "VIP Access" sales.
November: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday.
December: Free Shipping Day, Last-Minute Gift deadline, Post-Christmas sales.
January: Returns/Exchanges, New Year's resolutions sales.
3. Budget and inventory check
Do you have the necessary ad spend? More importantly, can your inventory or service capacity handle a surge? If you sell physical goods, get your inventory and packaging materials in order now. If you offer services, cap the number of new clients you'll accept to prevent burnout and ensure quality.
(Mid-October – Early November)
4. Get your design and visual assets together
What does the holidays look like to your brand? Don’t leave your design choices to last minute. Either on your own or with a designer, start working on:
Branded holiday banners, images, and video templates: Build a library of visuals for your website and social media profiles (Hint: we suggest doing this regularly so you’re not scrambling!). This includes making design choices related to fonts, colours, and imagery you might use during the holiday season.
Email Templates: Design the entire series for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and a generic "Holiday Cheer" template. You have gone through your inventory and you know what products you’re going to feature, so get that set up now.
5. Segment your email list
Goen are the days when you could send a generic "15% off everything" email. Email platforms are robust and you should segment your list based on:
Past purchasers: Offer them VIP early access or a deeper discount.
Cart abandoners: Target them with specific items they left behind.
Non-engaged subscribers: Use a compelling offer to wake them up before the peak season.
(Early November)
6. Pre-schedule everything
You’ve put the work in to plan, now is the time to set yourself up for success when it comes to your time. The last thing you want to be doing is planning out and building your campaigns the day before Black Friday.
Schedule social posts: Get all your evergreen holiday content queued up. We’ve talked about scheduling social content anyhow. You know holidays are coming, so it’s not a surprise.
Schedule emails: Set up your entire holiday season sequence including all the major days from your planning calendar. Don’t forget reminders and last chance emails.
Set up paid ads: If you’re managing your ads on your own, create all your Google and Meta ad campaigns, set them to "Paused," and ensure they are approved. They'll be ready to activate at the flip of a switch… or the click of a button…
7. Plan your customer service strategy
Whether you have an online store and your customer service is through chat and/or phone, or you have a brick-and—mortar location, your customer service team will be on the front lines during the holiday season. It can be hard to prepare for the inevitable frustration customers feel when shopping during the holidays, however there are things you can do to empower everyone:
Update your FAQs: Add specific sections for holiday shipping cut-off dates, return/exchange policies for gifts, and response times.
Train staff: Ensure everyone knows the special holiday promotions and policies as well as procedures if a customer isn’t happy.
Utilize chatbots: Careful with this one and make sure you test it before you launch, but consider using a basic chatbot to handle the most common, simple queries (like "What's the return policy?").
It seems like a lot, but the hard work you put in now starting in October will free you up in November and December to focus on running your business during what can be the busiest time of year. You’ll be able to optimize your strategy with small tweaks rather than building it out as you go.
Need help orchestrating your Q4 strategy? Book a holiday marketing consultation before our calendar is fully booked!